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Highly Commended in 2006

Marketplace Innovation, Highly Commended

Enviro-Fresh Ltd - Sani Sleeve

Vodafone Marketplace Innovation Award 2006

Formed in 2002, Enviro-Fresh Limited (EFL) is an environmental hygiene company based in London with 13 employees across the UK. EFL has developed washroom products for urinals which allows the water flushing frequency to be reduced by up to 90% and minimises blockage and smells.

Processes

The company's principal product is the Sani-Sleeve, a urinal insert invented by EFL's Technical Director and patented in June 2003, in combination with a water management system.

The principal challenges were to overcome the market's scepticism that the Sani-Sleeve would work, promote an unknown product in an unglamorous sector, and produce and deliver efficiently the product and service.

The Sani-Sleeve is retro-fitted to urinals and is lined with proprietary friendly bacteria which feed on urine in the urinal trap and drainage system. The friendly bacteria prevent the hardening of uric salt deposits and reduce blockages caused by these hardened deposits.

In order to allow the bacteria time to germinate, water flushing frequency is reduced from a typical 100 flushes per day to 8 - 12 flushes per day. This is achieved without allowing bad odours to develop: the patented insert within the Sani-Sleeve extends below the water line in the urinal trap to create an "odour lock".

Impact

Companies using the Sani-Sleeve have received both commercial and environmental benefits. The product is priced such that there is a typical 6-12 months pay-back period in the first year with installation and capital costs of around £150 per urinal.
If the sleeve were used in the 10 million urinals across the UK, reducing the number of flushes of 4.5 litres of water from 100 to 10 times per day, this would equate to a saving of 4,500 mega litres per day.
Two years into the marketing plan, EFL has sold over 50,000 Sani-Sleeves and has an installed base of an estimated 10,000 urinals with an estimated annual realised water saving of 1.4 million tons worth £2.5 million
Savings throughout the UK vary with water charges from £1.35/m3 in London to £3.53/m3 in the South East of England
During the last 2 years around 10,000 have been installed with an estimated annual realised water saving of 1.4 million tons